US counterfeit regulations could have large EU impact

More than 360 non US companies could be directly affected by the 2012 US National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA), says market analyst IHS iSuppli. Between them, these companies supplied more than $2billion worth of goods and services in the five years to 2011.

The NDAA, which addresses counterfeit part detection and avoidance, requires all companies in the US defence supply chain to have measures in place by 26 September 2012 which mitigate the risk of counterfeiting.

European companies are at greatest risk, says iSuppli, with 283 companies generating sales of more than $1bn during the last five years.

"There's a perception that US regulations, such as NDAA, are only an issue for American companies and don't impact firms in Europe," said Greg Jaknunas, IHS iSuppli's senior product manager for supply chain solutions. "The NDAA requirements will get pulled through the global supply chain [and] will become an international concern. In a way, this is similar to the EU's RoHS Directive. While RoHS appeared to be European in nature, it had a ripple effect worldwide as suppliers all over the world changed their products in order to continue to do business in the key EU markets."